I read this book, Assaan Naikiyyan, by Mufti Taqi Usmani, many years ago and found it very helpful. So I included its reading in our daily Taleem after Isha.
The premise of the book, as the title suggests, is how to do deeds that carry the highest reward with the minimum effort. Till now, we have read three easy good deeds.
Intention. For any action that we do during the day, we should make the intention that this action is purely for the Raza of Allah. Even for work that is purely for our duniya, like going to the office, going to the gym, or going out to dinner with family or friends, as long as it is not a haraam activity, we can make the same intention. It does not take much time, but it converts the entire action into a form of worship and therefore becomes a means of earning a great reward.
Dua. Ask Allah. Speak to Allah. Before any action or after any action. When you succeed or when you fail. When you are scared or when you are confident. When you are happy or when you are sad. Ask for His Help. Tell Him what is going on in your life. What is good and what is bad? What you liked and what you did not like.
Often, Ulema explain dua not only as “asking Allah” but also as “talking to Allah.” And Allah is the only One who encourages us to make duas and ask Him for everything and anything that we want. Even our Prophet ﷺ guided us to ask Allah for help even if the lace of our shoe is broken and needs to be mended.
Again, this does not need much preparation or any big effort, and the rewards are so many that they cannot be counted. The biggest reward that the book mentions is that dua builds a strong, unbreakable bond between Allah and us. Is that not the biggest reward one can hope for?
You only need to remember to do it. And the more often you do it, the more natural it becomes.
Masnoon Duaein. These are the duas, or invocations, that our Prophet ﷺ used to recite before starting his daily activities. For example, waking up, going to sleep, entering the washroom, coming out of the washroom, eating, drinking water, looking in the mirror, wearing clothes, leaving the house, returning home, entering the masjid, leaving the masjid, starting a journey, etc.
There are many books available that contain these duas. If we can memorize even one dua per day, then within a few days, all our daily work will start with the blessing of Allah, because it will begin with the prayer that our Prophet ﷺ taught us. And hence, the rewards would be much higher, while the effort would not even total more than five minutes per day.
Well, that is where I have reached in the book so far. As I read more, I will add more.
Till then.
Take care!